The new guidelines open up the nominating field to
"streaming-only" music that exists only on services with
"paid subscription, full catalogue, [and] on-demand/limited
download platforms."

This means that free mixtapes, Soundcloud albums, and
similarly unpaid music will remain ineligible for nomination at
this time.

The normal eligibility restrictions for music released
between October 5, 2015, and September 30, 2016, will still
apply.

The rule change comes about a month after Chance the
Rapper, a champion of free and streaming-only music,
threw his support behind a petition to allow
streaming-only music to be considered for Grammy
nomination.

Fittingly, Chance's critically acclaimed new album,
"Coloring Book," which premiered on Apple Music in May
and is now available on Spotify and Tidal as well, will now be
eligible for nomination.

Chance even made a sly nod to the Grammy rules before
releasing the album, when he rapped on Kanye West's "Ultralight
Beam": "I met Kanye West, I'm never going to fail / He said let's
do a good-ass job with Chance three / I hear you gotta sell
it to snatch the Grammy."

Chance responded to the news of his eligibility by
retweeting the Grammys on the rule change and posting an
exulted tweet of his own: